Father's Day 2011

We had a nice lunch with Shane's parents, took amazing naps and then sent Shane, Jacob and Samantha down the river in a kayak. All three of the them were excited. We talked about trying this out and seeing if it can pull a kid on a tube behind and it seemed to go ok. We may be looking at the next Self tradition or at least occasional family activity in the next few years.

 

Camp Invention

Jacob spent this whole week in a summer camp program called "Camp Invention". He was gone all day for the whole week and came home with a beaming smile each day. It was such a special treat for him to get to go and doing something different from the rest of the kids...something age appropriate just for him. He was encouraged to use his imagination all week and created  some fabulous fun things out of recyclables.

His team also spent the week creating a complete project. It is called the Twister. The ball is dropped from the top and rides down the track and into the tube to ring the bell at the end. He mentioned that his group was the only one who's invention worked almost every time. He was proud!!!

14 Years of Wedded Bliss

Happy Anniversary to the best husband in the world!! I love you so very much!

Drop N Plop

While my mom was in school getting her degree she had an opportunity to make a "new" toy which show cased fun as well as developmental practice...so became the Drop N Plop. I remember this being around our house and my younger cousins playing with it while she took notes and such. Well, she brought it over a few months ago for our babe to play with and she enjoys it immensely.
Thanks Mom for the Drop N Plop!!!

(Excuse the lack of clothes and ashy skin...it is summer after all and she is in the pool a ton...I can't keep up with the lotion!)

Crazy, swimming boy!

Burning some good energy to make for a quiet afternoon? (That's my plan anyway!) He has no fear and does all kinds of crazy stunts...reminds me of my brother and I in summer at our Grandparents pool.

Memorial Day Weekend 2011

We started the weekend with an old fashion drive in double feature on Fri night!

Waiting for the movie to start...

Then on Sat. it was a pretty low key day. Samantha had her piano testing at ASU and did great!

Here she is warming up in a practice room.

Then we had the family over for swimming and food...always a grand time!

Cousins...and yes, they are wearing matching suits...totally by chance.

Grandpa and Zekers

 Elli practing her monkey crawl

 Grandpa and Elli

 One brave little girlie...she LOVES swimming!!

 Aunt Kimmie and Zoee taking a relaxing ride on the raft.

And finally our boy...it took him several attempts over the course of the last few weeks to get the nerve to swim this summer but once he believed he was going to be fine he hasn't looked back!!! Good job buddy.

Mood Disorder, not otherwise specified

I have tried to sit down and write this entry for several days now and have had a difficulty finding the words. For those with children with special needs or additional education the title is something you may know about...for the rest of us I will simply say this is Nathan's current diagnosis.

Worse case scenario...he will have an official Bi-Polar diagnosis by the time he is in middle elementary. Best case scenario...he simple has a chemical imbalance that will cause his moods to fluctuate from time to time. (Us woman have no idea what that is like...hahahah) And then there is everything in between. It is a sobering and scary diagnosis all in one. Sobering because finally we have at least some idea what is going on with our sweet boy and scary because at times his future seems so unpredictable. Mind has been racing...are we the best equipped to be his parents? Is this the best family dynamic for him? Are there people out there with more training and education available to meet all his needs? What is God's will?

We of course are not making any rash decisions and now that I have said that I don't want anyone jumping to conclusions that we do not want him in our family...because we do, but it is hard sometimes to understand mental illness and forecast the long term. If we deny ourselves even asking these questions than I think we are not allowing God to work on our hearts either. I have every desire to spend time in intense prayer, seeking God's will in all this. His will may very well be that He wants him with us but what if it's not? Oh the dilemma of free will. What if there is not "wrong" answer? What if God says either one is a path I desire for you to take but the growth and overall outcome on you life will be dramatically different...and I mean that in the positive. What if He has significant growth in either option? Ugh....see my frustration? And with all these questions the last thing I want is to act or not act out of fear. Nathan's diagnosis at this point seems treatable with medication, which is such a positive result right now. Will it always be treatable? Will he always take his medication correctly? Here I go again...asking questions that just lead my mind around and around.

I guess this is just another opportunity for prayer and waiting. We have not had any pressure to make his adoption final so we feel very blessed that God is giving the time we may need to uncover more layers of our little onion. So now, we spend the next 3 mths monitoring medication and watching his behavior very close to make sure we are on the right path. Ultimately we want him to feel good about himself, have success in school (and life for that matter) and be a happy little boy. If you feel lead, please feel free to join us on prayer and I will be happy to update you with any progress and if you have any advice or expertise to offer I am always available to learn more and more. What a blessing to be given such a beautiful little boy to care for.